Proper pocket-money territory. The Swizzels Drumstick Chew Bar is the one you bought with the change from the paper shop and had finished before you reached the corner.
It takes the taste of the Drumstick lolly, the one everybody in Britain can name with their eyes shut, and turns it into a soft chew you can bite, pull and stretch until your jaw files a complaint.
It is small. That is the point. One goes in the coat pocket, one goes in the lunchbox, and one somehow never makes it home.
Grown adults have been seen buying a handful and insisting they are for the kids. Nobody believes them.
Frequently asked questions about Swizzels Drumstick Chew Bar
Q: Is this the UK version of the Drumstick chew bar?
A: Yes, this is the British Swizzels bar, the one you remember from the corner shop. We bring it over to Halifax and ship it from within Canada.
Q: How big is it?
A: It is a single 18g bar, pocket-sized and individually wrapped. Small enough that one is rarely enough.
Q: Is it the same as the Drumstick lolly?
A: Same Drumstick taste, no stick. It is a soft chew bar, so you get to stretch it out rather than crunch it.
Q: Is it good to send in a parcel for someone who misses home?
A: Very good. Tuck a few into a box with other British sweets and watch the reaction when they open it.
More about Swizzels Drumstick Chew Bar
The Drumstick chew bar belongs to the sweet counter of a British childhood: the paper bag, the agonising choice, the shopkeeper waiting while you counted coins. It sits right alongside the other Swizzels names that every school playground knew by heart.
Here is the problem in Canada. You can describe that Drumstick taste to a friend in great detail, and they will nod politely, but the only thing that settles it is handing them the actual bar. That is why people go looking for the British original rather than a description of it.
It is a single 18g chew bar, individually wrapped, so it lives happily in a cupboard, a desk drawer or the glovebox until the moment arrives. It slips into lunchboxes and party bags, and a bowl of them on the counter tends to empty faster than anyone will own up to.
Swizzels also make Love Hearts, Parma Violets and Refreshers, and most people who reach for a Drumstick bar end up building a little bag of old favourites around it. One is never really the plan.
On the pack
Free From Artificial Colours
Additional Information
Packaging Accuracy. We keep product information as accurate and up to date as possible. Manufacturers sometimes change packaging, ingredients, nutritional information, allergen advice, pack sizes or branding without notice, so the product you receive may look slightly different from the images shown. If you have a question about ingredients or allergens before ordering, please get in touch and we will gladly check for you.
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A handy shortcut to the British favourites flying out the door.
Say "Drumstick" to anyone who grew up in Britain and watch their face change. The lolly was the one that lasted the whole walk home from school, as long as you did not crack and bite it, and everybody cracked. The name has been Swizzels' since the Drumstick lolly turned up in 1957, and Swizzels makes the chew bar itself, so that is the real Drumstick name on the wrapper, not a borrowed one. It goes in a pocket, comes out at the bus stop, and is gone before the bus is.
Read the full story
Two brothers and a market stall
It started in the early 1920s with Maurice and Alfred Matlow selling jellied sweets from a market stall in Hackney, London. By 1928 they had a small factory in east London, trading as Matlow Brothers and making jellies and chews. In 1933 they merged with a rival factory owner, David Dee, whose speciality was fizzy compressed tablet sweets. Sound thinking: if you cannot beat the competition, invite him in. The name Swizzels Matlow Ltd took its time, only arriving in 1975.
Bombed out, moved north
The 1940 Blitz pushed the business out of London altogether, to a disused wick factory in New Mills, Derbyshire. It is still there. Love Hearts arrived in 1954, and Drumstick lollies followed in 1957, so there is a fair chance your parents spent their pocket money on the same thing you did. Swizzels says it has been making its sweets, Drumsticks included, for over 90 years, and the company is still run by members of both the Dee and Matlow families.
The big three
Love Hearts, Parma Violets and Drumstick lollies are Swizzels' highest-selling brands, and the ones that turned up in every party bag and every paper bag of mixed sweets from the corner shop. The Drumstick name has kept busy: in 2012 came Drumstick Squashies, foam-like chewy sweets with the same flavour as the original lolly. Open one in company and somebody will ask if you have got another. You have not. Not for them, anyway.
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Christmas is on its way
The Christmas range lands from the UK in early November.
The day it arrives we unpack it, pack your order and send it on its way. Advent calendars go first, and everything reaches you within a few days wherever you are in Canada.
Order now and it has your name on it. The favourites go early every year. The people who leave it until December are the ones who miss out.
